According to a US Government SEC registration form, cryptocurrency index fund provider Bitwise Asset Management has applied to launch a new Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) with the government body. An ETF is a platform that tracks and trades an asset in the same way as stocks are traded on an exchange. Will Bitwise manage to succeed where so many others are failing? Bitwise Files Bitcoin ETF Bitwise’s proposal is for an ETF that tracks the value of Bitcoin via the Bitwise Bitcoin Total Return Index. This value is “calculated based on the prices of Bitcoin that the Index Provider derives from Bitcoin price transactions occurring on cryptocurrency…

(Reuters) - Wall Street extended its rally into a fifth straight day on Thursday in a session of whipsaw trading as investors responded to mixed comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, while a warning from Macy’s pummeled retail stocks. Powell reiterated the views of other policymakers that the Fed would be patient about interest rate hikes. But major stock indexes temporarily moved into negative territory after Powell said the bank’s balance sheet would be “substantially smaller,” and after he raised concerns about the size of U.S. debt. “That’s what spooked the market a little bit. It’s more of a commentary on the entire economy as a…

Google signage is seen at the Google headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., December 19, 2018. REUTERS/Shannon StapletonSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A shareholder’s lawsuit filed on Thursday said the board of Google parent Alphabet Inc played a direct role in covering up sexual misconduct claims against two top executives in 2014 and 2016. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The lawsuit in San Mateo County Superior Court in California by shareholder James Martin cites minutes from Alphabet board and board committee meetings. The lawsuit seeks to force Google to upgrade its governance and oversight to stop…

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro started a second term on Thursday, defying critics in the United States and Latin America who called him an illegitimate usurper of a nation where economic chaos has wrought a humanitarian crisis. The country’s pro-government Supreme Court, which has largely supplanted the opposition-run Congress, swore him in following a welcome with a symphony orchestra and cheering supporters waving miniature yellow, blue and red Venezuelan flags. The ceremony contrasted with the harsh realities that face the former bus driver turned socialist leader, including hyperinflation, severe food and medicine shortages and an exodus of millions of citizens. Before he had even completed…

When it came to sharing fake news on Facebook during the 2016 election, no age group was quite as active as those aged 65 and older, according to a new study.The study, published Wednesday in Science Advances, quantifies how aggressive seniors were in spreading misinformation, though the findings suggest that sharing such stories was relatively rare.On average, American Facebook users aged 65 and older posted seven times as many articles from fake news websites as adults 29 and younger, according to the study. And that was true regardless of ideology, education level or political affiliation: Older users just tended to share misinformation more.But before you blame America’s…

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An index of world stock markets rose on Thursday as worries over the lack of clear signs of a resolution to the U.S.-China trade spat were offset by an assurance by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell that the U.S. central bank has the ability to be patient on monetary policy. Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., January 10, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidThe dollar rebounded after hitting a three-month low, while U.S. Treasury debt prices erased early gains after a soft 30-year bond auction and as Powell said the U.S. central bank will “substantially” reduce…

MCALLEN, Texas/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Flanked by border agents who are going without paychecks during a government shutdown, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to use emergency powers to bypass Congress to pay for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump flew to the Texas border with Mexico to try to bolster his case for the border wall as a partial U.S. government shutdown tied to the issue stretched into its 20th day with no sign of new talks to resolve the impasse. “We can declare a national emergency. We shouldn’t have to,” Trump told reporters. “This is just common sense.” Such a step would likely prompt…

BEIJING — China’s ambassador to Canada has said that “Western egotism and white supremacy” were behind calls for Beijing to release two detained Canadians, further straining relations between the countries after the arrest in Canada last month of a Chinese technology executive.The ambassador, Lu Shaye, wrote on Wednesday in an op-ed for The Hill Times, an Ottawa-based newspaper, that Canadians were applying “double standards” to the cases.Some Canadians, he wrote, argued that their country was merely enforcing the law when it arrested Meng Wanzhou, the finance chief of the Chinese technology giant Huawei, but insisted that Beijing was out of line when it detained two Canadians soon…

(Reuters) - Sears Holdings Corp (SHLDQ.PK) Chairman Eddie Lampert submitted a revised takeover bid of more than $5 billion for the company, according to a regulatory filing made on Thursday, significantly increasing the likelihood the U.S. department store will be able to stay in business. FILE PHOTO: A dismantled sign sits leaning outside a Sears department store one day after it closed as part of multiple store closures by Sears Holdings Corp in the United States in Nanuet, New York, U.S., January 7, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File PhotoSears set a Wednesday deadline for Lampert to submit a new offer for the retailer and a $120 million deposit, after…

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An index of world stock markets was little changed on Thursday after a four-day winning streak, as investors fretted over the lack of clear signs that a U.S.-China trade spat was resolved and over sluggish global economic growth. FILE PHOTO: The London Stock Exchange Group offices are seen in the City of London, Britain, December 29, 2017. REUTERS/Toby MelvilleU.S. Treasury yields retreated, the U.S. dollar firmed, and oil prices edged lower, as various markets reversed recent moves. MSCI’s all-country index was 0.03 percent lower, retreating from a near four-week high hit on Wednesday. China said three days of talks with the United States…